Main Dining room... big table?

[Krydstosser]

Hey Guys

 

We are newbies with Celebrity Cruises.... we prefer to be seated with other guests at a big table in the dining room, because we love to socialize and talk with the same guests every night. Is that possible with Celebrity? if yes, what should we choose for dining option?? It is a little confusing on the Cruiseplanner....

 

I am danish so don´t mind the spelling :D

 

Soeren

[jelayne]

You want traditional dining which has a choice of 2 times. They vary slightly by sailing but are generally around 6 or 8:30. My travel agent usually handles this for us so I not sure if the Cruise Planner has a choice of table sizes but there are tables of 6 and 8 in the dining room.

[Muffinz]

We had the late dining session on our recent cruise on Solstice 8:30pm and our table could seat 8 people I think, but most of the time it was just my wife & I and another couple at the table as some people preferred to eat early or go to the buffet

[GUT2407]

Did you book with an agent or online.

 

You need to enter it at the time of booking.

[jelayne]

If you booked with a TA have them put your desired dining time & table size on your booking. If you booked on-line you may have to call Celebrity to make sure your booking indicates your desired time & table.

[Luvcrusn]

In addition to traditional early and late dining (6:00PM and 8:30PM) where there are large tables, there is also Select dining that allows you to eat whenever you want. You can request to be seated at a large table in Select also, although with that choice you may not be dining with the same people nightly unless when you first meet you all agree to subsequently arrive and sit together the rest of the cruise. It's been my observation that many of the large tables in the MDR (certainly not all) often have many of the diners missing throughout the cruise due to many passengers choosing to dine in specialty restaurants on some evenings. If you booked through a TA, have them request the dining type and table size you prefer. If you booked online, I'd advise calling to make your request since the Celebrity website has had great difficulties over the past year when they launched the new site. Note that either way, it is only a request. The best thing to do after you've made your request with either the TA or calling is go to the MDR on embarkation day and meet with the maître d to make certain your requests were received and honored.

[The Bishops]

Log into your cruise planner and you will be able to choose traditional dining, once you tick this box you should be able to select which time you want - early or late - then the table size. You are not guaranteed to get your choice but with one exception we've always been given what we asked for. Have a wonderful cruise.

 

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[Esprit]

We always book second sitting on a table of eight. The tables for 10 are a little too large so you have to make a point of swapping seats each night to be able to talk with everybody.

What bugs us are those people who fail to show up on any nights, so you have gaps around the table.

[sddsddean]

As others have said, the main problem with doing a big table on traditional dining is if some people don't turn up. We once did a cruise on a 10 table and we were the only ones to turn up at all!, but the service was great!! Nowadays, with so many speciality restaurants, it is much more common for people to go missing. If you know this is happeniong, its common courtesy to let your tablemates know, so they don't wait for you. However, we now do Select (anytime) dining. This gives you flexibility. If you don't have anything planned, ask for a big table so you can have a good natter with your fellow cruisers. If you want to get to a show and have a 'quick' dinner, a table for 2. Quite often, especially after a big excursion day, all you want to do is head up to the buffet and grab something without the faff of having to get changed. I'd recommend doing Select.

 

Simon

[phoenix_dream]

I agree about people not showing up. We were guilty ones a number of years ago. We decided to book a 5 night specialty restaurant package on a 10 night cruise. In those days, Select Dining was just starting and that was already full so we had to pick standard dining. In retrospect we should have requested a table for 2. We thought (at the time) it was better to pick a table for 8 or 10 as then there would always be some people there. As it turns out, our table mates were obviously not happy with our approach. Even though we always told them when we would/would not be there, as the cruise went on they became a bit 'chilly' with us and it was pretty awkward at the table.

[Pattyhoo]

Even though at home we eat dinner rather early, we always request the 8:30 seating onboard. We’ve found that a table for six is perfect. On our last cruise, ( Eclipse 14 day Caribbean Jan 20 ) we sat with couples from England and Wales. We enjoyed ourselves so much that the six of us booked a cruise together next January! We have linked our reservations and requested another table together. By the way, we usually go to a specialty restaurant a few times during a long cruise. Dinner was so great together that none of us missed a night.

[Krydstosser]

Thanks guys...

 

But we can only choose Selected Dinning on the webpage?

 

There is no option on the webpage for traditional dinning?

[MightyMike]

Thanks guys...

 

But we can only choose Selected Dinning on the webpage?

 

There is no option on the webpage for traditional dinning?

 

Below the three main options there should be a link you can click to be placed on a waitlist for either early or late (traditional) dining.

 

Even though I booked my next cruise over a year in advance, I had the same thing happen to me. I am wondering if they are trying to eliminate traditional dining on this cruise. We are early enough that we expected many openings for each dining option. I am convinced they are up to something.

 

In any case, placing yourself on the waitlist is the best way to express your preference at this time. The cruise line obviously can't accommodate everyone's wishes, but if they refuse too many waitlist requests, they are asking for dissatisfied customers, and they can't really afford that.

[cb at sea]

Simply get on the waitlist for the dining your prefer...they want you to be happy and will fix it at least on boarding day!

[Krydstosser]

There is no wait list only "Select dinning" and Speciality restaurants to choose...

 

Maybe i should talk with the TA.... I think RCCL website is better and more easy to use.

[The Bishops]

Thanks guys...

 

But we can only choose Selected Dinning on the webpage?

 

There is no option on the webpage for traditional dinning?

Did you book direct with Celebrity, if so ring them and see if they can put you on your choice of time on traditional dining, this worked for us. I work on the basis that if you don't ask you don't get. If you used a travel agent get them to try to organise this for you, after all it is their job to help get you the holiday you want.

 

If the above doesn't work then as MightyMike and cb at sea have said get on the waitlist and if all else fails, try to get it changed when you board.

 

Good luck.

 

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[Krydstosser]

Did you book direct with Celebrity, if so ring them and see if they can put you on your choice of time on traditional dining, this worked for us. I work on the basis that if you don't ask you don't get. If you used a travel agent get them to try to organise this for you, after all it is their job to help get you the holiday you want.

 

If the above doesn't work then as MightyMike and cb at sea have said get on the waitlist and if all else fails, try to get it changed when you board.

 

Good luck.

 

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Thanks... I will try :D